I don't believe I thanked you for turning me onto these boots, thanks! Even though I hadn't planned on another pair this year. Hey does that make us even for me influencing you on purchasing that jacket on another thread?!

Lol, touche.

Interesting on the Alden leather defender; I've been considering purchasing a bottle but so far am OK with my shell in the rain.

First post, hi all. I contacted AE today regarding a slip up on my part, see email:

Greetings,

A few drops of coffee fell on my beloved and new-to-me McAllisters. I used my usual leather cleaner (Armor All Leather cleaner). Unfortunately the finish completely came off as if the leather was painted rather than dyed (lesson learned). I repeated on the other shoe so they now match. I've ordered the walnut shoe polish to attempt to regain the color and depth. Short of recrafting, what other suggestions do you have to restore the color and depth? Will carnauba wax help?

Thanks,

Me

Reply:

Dear Sir:

Thank you for your email. You can try the polish but if the polish doesn’t work you may need to send the shoes in to have them refinished. If you have any further questions please call toll free 800.xxxxxxx and speak with one of our representatives.

Apparently they do ship to Sweden but they charge 150$, yes 150$ for shipping costs. I emailed him to confirm it. Most sites in US take about 5-25$.
But can't complain on their customer service, the guy replied within 30sec, both times!
Apparently the regular site almost take the same rates. So it's a lost hope on Allen edmonds for me, even later this year. No one's pays 150$ for shipping that's just principles.

Maybe have someone here buy them for you and ship to Sweden at a much lower shipping cost. Maybe someone here is willing to do that for you.

Are there any differences between the 5th ave and the park ave besides the cap being perforated? And does anyone feel that the fifth avenue's cap is way too close to the tip of the shoe?

And am I justified in thinking that the cap on the strand is further back when compared to the 5th ave?

Nope, just the perforation. I own a pair of Fifth Avenues and I agree that the cap is a bit too far forward on both it and the Park Avenue. Multiple other people in this thread agree, but to be honest it wasn't bad enough to prevent me from buying them.

Are there any differences between the 5th ave and the park ave besides the cap being perforated? And does anyone feel that the fifth avenue's cap is way too close to the tip of the shoe?

And am I justified in thinking that the cap on the strand is further back when compared to the 5th ave?

This always brings out the AE bashing from the AE Appreciation Thread! There is not any difference between the two shoes other than the perforations on the cap toe. The general consensus seems to be that the cap on the Park and Fifth Avenues is too close to the tip of the shoe. You are correct that the cap on the Strand is further back and better proportioned according to most people in this forum. That said, I personally like the Park and Fifth Avenues, and don't have any problems with them. I think the current philosophy of the cap placement is getting alot of attention right now, but the fact remains that AE has been making these shoes since many of us were in diapers. If they were breaking some actual rule in shoe fashion, they wouldn't be timeless best sellers decade after decade.

Didn't mean to bring out an old debate. The strand looks great on me so I went to Brooks Brothers (I get a significant discount from them) and tried on a pair of 9.5EEE Fifth Ave in Walnut, looked great, and ordered a pair of brown (didn't have 9.5 in brown). The shoes arrived today and it looks rather awkward, a little too boxy, which wasn't helped much by the 5th avenue having a much wider cap than the park avenue. I think the shoes are also defective because the heel feels uneven, like there is a bump in the middle of my heel when I walk.

Definitely going to exchange them and probably opt for the park ave to narrow the cap a little bit.

Do you guys think double monks are going out of style? I live in NYC and wanted to get a pair, but it seems I may be behind the trend on that. Should I just get a more traditional pair of oxfords instead?

First post, hi all. I contacted AE today regarding a slip up on my part, see email:

Greetings,

A few drops of coffee fell on my beloved and new-to-me McAllisters. I used my usual leather cleaner (Armor All Leather cleaner). Unfortunately the finish completely came off as if the leather was painted rather than dyed (lesson learned). I repeated on the other shoe so they now match. I've ordered the walnut shoe polish to attempt to regain the color and depth. Short of recrafting, what other suggestions do you have to restore the color and depth? Will carnauba wax help?

Thanks,

Me

Reply:

Dear Sir:

Thank you for your email. You can try the polish but if the polish doesn’t work you may need to send the shoes in to have them refinished. If you have any further questions please call toll free 800.xxxxxxx and speak with one of our representatives.

Sincerely,

AE

Here's a picture for reference:

Wow, sorry to see that your new shoes are off to such a rough start! Next time try rubbing some AE Conditioner/Cleaner directly onto the area you are trying to clean. Then follow up with some of the Walnut Premium Polish. Carnuba wax will not penetrate the leather as well as the cream polish will, and it looks like you need better leather penetration based on the pictures. I wish you the best of luck with restoring the color with the walnut polish, but you may need to keep an open mind on potentially needing to send them back to AE for refinishing (even though it will be expensive). I would save the Armor-All for the car seats, as they are finished in a different way from your shoes.

Dammit, yesterday a bunch of AE models were on sale for ~$260 on Amazon, including the Vernon (which I am in the market to buy) and the Strand and many others. I guess it was only a one day sale, because when I logged in this evening after work to purchase a pair of saddle brown Vernons and a pair of black Vernons, they had gone back up to full price.